Football Player Quotes

By Jonathan Harkey

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October 16, 2012 08:42 PM

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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia football team addressed members of the media Tuesday night. The Mountaineers play host to Kansas State on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on FOX.

Geno SmithOn what he’s seen that he can improve onA number of things; One was accuracy. I didn’t think I hit my mark as much as I would have liked to. I was off target on certain throws that I normally make. But days like that happen. You just have to move on from it.

On the challenges that the Kansas State defense is going to presentThey’re a tough challenge. They have a really good defense. They play together. They play hard. They’re always attacking. They’re very sound. They rarely make mistakes. You rarely catch any guys blowing coverages. They all fly to the ball, and that’s something you want as a defensive coordinator, and that’s a good sign for their defense. It’s going to be a challenge for us, and we have to be up for that challenge.

Darwin CookOn if anyone on Kansas State’s offense stands out besides Collin KleinThe receiver number three (Chris Harper), he’s a very good receiver. The running back number 33 (John Hubert), he’s very good. He has short feet, choppy steps. Those are definitely two guys we have to focus on this week.

On if there is any confusion within the defenseI don’t feel like there’s confusion. It’s a lack of mental effort. We have to get the calls known around us. As a leader, you have to communicate that to everybody. We just have to get better on that part, communication.

On if the new schemes factor into defensive performanceIt doesn’t factor, you can’t make excuses just because of a new scheme and new coaches. We still have to go out there as players and make plays. You can’t just blame it on new coaches and schemes, you just have to make plays.

Doug RiggOn what he’s seen in film on Collin KleinA lot of times, he’ll look like he’s running the ball, then he’ll pretend to run the ball but throw it deep, and he has the arm to complete it. The biggest thing for us is that we have to read our keys. We can’t just assume it’s going to be a run and give up receivers going deep.

On if he’d rather face power style offenses like Kansas State than spread offensesOh yeah that’s what I’m built for, that’s what I love to see. I’m excited for this game. I think I’m built well for that. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to play this weekend.

On the discipline of the defenseWe have to be very disciplined. We weren’t disciplined at all last weekend. We have to read our keys. The biggest thing with them is that if you over pursue, they’ll cut it back. If you don’t over pursue, they’ll run outside. They’re a very well coached team. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They know what they’re doing. They always have an answer for something you do so we just have to be very focused.

Tavon AustinOn the game against Texas TechWe definitely played with no energy. They’re a very good football team, but we need to grind past that and get a win this week.

On if the team has lost any confidence following the game against Texas TechIt’s not that we’ve lost before, because we’ve lost before. The confidence is still there. We know we are still a good offense, we‘re definitely going to show it this week.

On the challenge Kansas State’s defense presentsKansas State definitely presents a great challenge. They play tough football. That’s what Texas Tech did, they came in and hit us in the mouth. They’re going to come in like that this week, and we need to be prepared.

On if there’s a line between what they expect from themselves and arroganceDefinitely; When we came into that game, none of us had the mindset there. We thought we were going to go in there and get the easy win. You can’t do that in college football. You have to come prepared every week. Even in warm-ups, our mind wasn’t in it. Definitely, now we will come in more like we are playing in the national championship.